London Chapter get together
At 6pm on Thursday 12 May 2011, the London Chapter of the MLASA and Peter Edwards of the MLASA Exco will be having a get together (including a few drinks and snacks) at the Skylounge on the 12th Floor of the Mint Hotel Tower of London. All colleagues please feel free to attend.
MLASA 2011 AGM and Conference
The MLA Durban Chapter is currently in the process of preparing for this year’s AGM and Conference. The 2011 MLASA AGM and Conference will be held from the 26 August 2011 to the 28 August 2011 at the Champagne Sports Resort in the central Drakensberg mountains situated in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. Our initial notification thereof is attached. The Durban Chapter is currently sourcing speakers and intends to frame the conference around marine insurance issues. The conference programme and booking details will be made available shortly.
Recovery of Captain Roy Martin – April 2011
Captain Roy Martin, a former chairperson of the Durban Chapter and member of the MLA’s Executive Committee, was involved in a very serious car accident on the 18th of September 2010. He was in a coma for about a month in ICU and then spent a considerable amount of time in the Entabeni Rehabilitation Unit. Roy has made steady progress and was able to join the Durban Chapter at the AGM on the 25th of January 2011. He is continuing work with a therapist and is improving on a daily basis.
The MLASA wishes Captain Roy Martin all the best in his recovery.
MV Cleopatra Dream: The Supreme Court of Appeal confirms the approach to salvage operations undertaken within the scope of statutory duties – April 2011
The Supreme Court of Appeal has confirmed the judgement handed down in the Western Cape High Court with respect to the mv Cleopatra Dream.
The matter revolved around the issue of voluntariness in salvage, and more particularly whether salvage services, rendered by an authority in the course and scope of a statutory or common law duty, qualify for a salvage reward.
The appellant, Transnet Limited (“Transnet”) the national port authority, had claimed salvage against the defendant, the mv “Cleopatra Dream” for coming to her aid in a time of distress. At the time of the distress, the vessel was within port limits and under the direction of a pilot employed by Transnet. She had suffered an engine breakdown and was drifting towards shallow water when the pilot requested harbour tug assistance.
The court a quo had found that Transnet had rendered the relevant services to the vessel pursuant to, and within, both a statutory and common law duty and thus not voluntarily as that term is understood in the law of salvage. As a result, the court had found the Transnet was not entitled to claim a salvage reward.
On appeal, Transnet denied that the services were rendered in the performance of either a statutory or common law duty and were therefore voluntary. Alternatively, Transnet claimed, that should the court find it had acted in accordance with a duty, it was nonetheless entitled to a salvage reward by virtue of the provisions of the International Convention on Salvage (“the Convention”).
The appeal court agreed with the court a quo that if a service is rendered under a pre-existing obligation to work for the benefit of property and life at risk, then it is prima facie not a salvage service. Even in the absence of a duty, where the services performed are ordinarily to be expected of the claimant in the capacity in which it performs them, it will usually be barred from recovering salvage.
Furthermore, the appeal court found that the Convention does not exclude voluntariness in respect of salvage operations performed by a public authority acting under a duty. Each case involving a claim by a public authority for salvage, in consequence of operations carried out by it, must begin with a determination of how the domestic law regulates a claim by it for salvage. Once that is determined, one will know the limitations of its entitlement to a salvage reward.
In the circumstances of the case, Transnet had no right to a salvage reward because the whole scope of its operation was carried out subject to, and within, the normal limits of its duty and not voluntarily.
This judgement is in keeping both with the relevant national legislation and the Salvage Convention, incorporated into South African law by the Wreck and Salvage Act.
Latest Shipping and Harbour News out of Africa – April 2011
For the latest shipping and harbour news out of South Africa (and Africa) we recommend that readers of the MLA Scene go to the daily Ports and Ships newsletter at www.ports.co.za.